"Barbie Doll" by Marge Piercy, is a poem which relies heavily on irony to make its point. Irony, of course, is a contrast or discrepancy between two things. In this case, the contrast is between the oh-so-normal details in this young girl's life and the outrageous actions which eventually occur. It starts in the first lines, when the speaker obviously and ironically knows everything about this young girl--except her name.

This girlchild was born as usualand presented dolls that did pee-peeand miniature GE stoves and ironsand wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy.

The irony continues as we hear about all the wonderful attributes of this young lady, contrasted with what we later see as self-loathing strong enough to incite suicide.

The next description we have utilizes exaggeration and a sense of the ridiculous--she did not cut off her nose, nor did she cut off her legs, the offending body parts others criticized. This contrasts with the dark reality of a suicidal death.

So she cut off her nose and her legsand offered them up.

The next irony contrasts the sweetness of the comments regarding her beauty with the fact that they're only spoken after she has died. While she was alive, she only heard the negative comments.

Doesn't she look pretty? everyone said.

Finally, the last lines are verbal irony--a contradiction between what is said and what is meant.

Consummation at last. To every woman a happy ending.

Clearly this poem is a condemnation of the modern standard of perfection (as seen in the symbolic use of the Barbie image) and it uses the technique of irony to make that point.